Rock 'n' Bowl demolitions are put on hold

City officials this week delayed for a month a decision on whether Rock ‘n’ Bowl’s owner can demolish two nearby homes he recently bought.

The Neighborhood Conservation District Committee told owner John Blancher to spend the time talking to the area’s neighborhood organization.

Jenel Hazlett, president of Northwest Carrollton Civic Association, expressed concerns at the meeting about losing historic housing stock, and over the number of vacant residential lots Blancher has purchased adjacent to the site. Hazlett is asking for a “comprehensive plan.”

In asking for the demolitions, Blancher said that the ”buildings are in very poor condition and the best use would be to demolish them” for additional surface parking.

Both properties were issued permits for repairs after Katrina.

The popular nightspot is located near the intersection of South Carrollton Avenue and Earhart Boulevard, and the Blancher family also has financial interests in the adjacent Ye Olde College Inn restaurant.

The two businesses share a parking lot, which has the capacity to hold 99 vehicles.

Karen Gadbois co-founded The Lens. She now covers New Orleans government issues and writes about land use. With television reporter Lee Zurik she exposed widespread misuse of city recovery funds and led to guilty pleas in federal court. Her work attracted some of journalism's highest honors, including a Peabody Award, an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award and a gold medal from Investigative Reporters and Editors. She can be reached at (504) 606-6013.